‘Russia records biggest territorial gains in Ukraine in 2025’

By : David Meshioye

Date: 3 January 2026 10:04am WAT

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky .Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP)

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky .Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP)

Russia made its largest battlefield advances in Ukraine last year since the first year of the war in 2022, according to an AFP analysis, as Kyiv prepares to host security advisers from allied countries amid continued Russian strikes.

The analysis showed that Russian forces captured more than 5,600 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in 2025, representing nearly one per cent of the country. The data, drawn from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project, includes areas confirmed by Ukrainian authorities and military analysts to be under Russian control, as well as territory claimed by Moscow.

The gains exceeded those made in the previous two years combined, although they remained far below the more than 60,000 square kilometres seized by Russia during the initial year of its full-scale invasion in 2022. The renewed Russian advances have come as Ukraine steps up diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year conflict. President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 15 countries, alongside representatives of the European Union and NATO, are expected to attend a meeting of security advisers in Kyiv on Saturday. A United States delegation is to join the talks via video link.

The meeting will be followed next week by a summit in France involving leaders of the so-called “coalition of the willing”, part of a broader push to secure a negotiated settlement. In his New Year’s Eve address, Zelensky said a US-brokered peace deal was “90 percent” ready, but acknowledged that the sensitive issue of territory remained unresolved.

The diplomatic momentum contrasts sharply with the situation on the ground, where Ukrainian forces, outnumbered and outgunned, are facing sustained pressure from Russian troops.

Russia has also continued its aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities. The latest strikes hit a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, destroying parts of multi-storey apartment buildings. AFP images showed firefighters battling blazes and rescue teams evacuating residents from the rubble. Local authorities said a three-year-old child was killed and at least 19 people were injured in the attack. Zelensky described the strike as “heinous”.

“Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people — they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process,” he said on social media. Russia’s defence ministry denied responsibility, saying its forces “did not plan or carry out strikes using missiles or air strikes within the city limits of Kharkiv”.

Amid growing risks to civilians, Ukrainian officials on Friday ordered the evacuation of more than 3,000 children and their parents from 44 frontline settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where Russian troops have been advancing. Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said more than 150,000 people have been evacuated from frontline areas since June 1.

On Thursday, Russia accused Ukraine of striking a hotel and a café in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, killing 28 people, and warned of “consequences”. Kyiv said the attack targeted a military gathering and that the area was closed to civilians. AFP was unable to independently verify either claim. Meanwhile, Zelensky announced changes within his administration. On Friday, he appointed military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new top aide following the resignation of the president’s former chief of staff in November amid a corruption scandal.

Budanov, widely credited in Ukraine with overseeing a series of daring operations against Russian targets, will formally replace Andriy Yermak, who stepped down after investigators raided his home during a sweeping anti-corruption probe.

Zelensky also signalled his intention to replace Defence Minister Denys Shymgal, appointed just six months ago, with 34-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov, the current minister of digital transformation. “Mykhailo is deeply involved in issues related to drones and is very effective in the digitalisation of state services and processes,” the president said.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a “special military operation” aimed at preventing NATO expansion — a justification Kyiv and its allies have dismissed. Since then, Moscow has occupied large areas of eastern and southern Ukraine while continuing near-daily drone and missile attacks on towns and cities across the country.

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